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Searching the sound

Searching the sound

Combustion engines have dominated sound design in the automotive sector right from the start. But in the age of e-mobility, car interiors have become spaces of calm that call for design. We talked to two experts on the subject.

Reading time: About 5 minutes

UX designer Indra-Lena Kögler stands with her eyes closed in the presentation hall of the Volkswagen Design Center.

There it is again. The question of what the engine should sound like. Indra-Lena Kögler replies with a searching look as she tries to make sure her answer is understood. It is of utmost importance for the discussion that will follow. “The word ‘engine’ puts us squarely in the combustion world,” says the UX designer. “I would prefer to talk about the sound a drive system makes.” Her colleague Valentina Wilhelm chimes in: “We’re not trying to imitate what an engine sounds like. Instead, we’re trying to convey the character of an electric car.”

The combustion engine has determined the sound and dominated the design of cars for more than a century. “But now, in the age of e-mobility, it will cease to exist. That opens up a new type of freedom, which we want to explore,” explained Klaus Bischoff, head of Volkswagen Design, at a recent event. It gives his designers a completely new field of activity. Two of them, Indra-Lena Kögler and Valentina Wilhelm, are pursuing this newly acquired freedom with models like the I.D. – the first purely electric Volkswagen developed and operated on the Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB).

Sound as acoustic identity

“We don’t have any mechanical restrictions, and can give each car its own sound,” says 31-year-old Valentina Wilhelm, as if emphasizing again that she and her colleague are not two sound engineers talking about combustion engines but rather two UX designers discussing acoustics in the electric age. The sound that a drive system makes is obviously a key part of a car’s overall presentation. As with a combustion engine, the acoustics of an electric motor also convey propulsion, dynamism, power and speed.

Klaus Bischoff has stated his requirements for drive system acoustics: he wants people to recognize a Volkswagen also by the sound it makes when driving by – even if their eyes are closed. “Everyone should immediately think, wow, that can only be an electric car. And their second thought should be, YES, that’s a Volkswagen,” he says.

Sounds made by Volkswagen

Design and technology have always played a special role in Wolfsburg. That responsibility is now even greater with electric cars. Yes, soon the combustion engine will no longer be a car’s core component. But with everyone focused on the idea and promise of autonomous driving, it’s easy to overlook many of the developments that are already taking place.

Designers Indra-Lena Kögler (left) and Valentina Wilhelm (right) talk about the role of sound in everyday life.

The answer to the question about the role of sound in the electric age is found in Wolfsburg. Whereas most of the company’s production halls are beehives of activity, the heart of its Design Center is the very essence of calm. Even the sound of birds can be heard.

The windowless room, which features an impressive lighting system and mirrors along one of its walls, is called “Walhalla.” Here is where new cars are presented to the Board. An 18-meter-long wall serves as a projection screen for presentations such as the one designers Indra-Lena Kögler and Valentina Wilhelm are holding today. The birdsong on the sound system is meant to create the impression of natural surroundings.

Light designer Valentina Wilhelm stands with eyes closed at an 18-meter presentation wall and takes in a sense of calm.

Artificial acoustics are required

Cars have to make noise. That is not a matter of taste, but of law. As of July 2019, all newly developed electric cars in the European Union are required to have an Acoustic Vehicle Alert System (AVAS). Two years after that, no electric or hybrid car will be allowed to leave a factory without an AVAS. Cars have to emit artificial sound up to speeds of 20 km/h. Above that, the rolling tires generate sufficient noise.

Carmakers are permitted to chose the actual sound, but the EU has issued guidelines. As with combustion engines, the sound of an electric car has to reflect what the vehicle is doing. A sample tone can be found on the website of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Beethoven’s 9th symphony, in other words, is taboo.

“The regulations don’t just apply to the exterior sound,” says Kögler, a media and communications designer who has been with Volkswagen for 18 years. Her job is to create an agreeable acoustic environment in car interiors so that drivers remain relaxed while negotiating traffic and are not constantly subject to outside noise. “Sounds are acoustic design lines for us,” she says. “Light and sound complement each other,” adds light designer Valentina Wilhelm. “Both are important parts of a multi-sensory experience.”

Listening with all one’s senses

Kögler points to the presentation wall of a man lying with closed eyes in what appears to be a moving car. “Cars in the electric age are quiet,” she notes. “And quiet surroundings make it easier for every tone to have an effect.” This sentence, which sounds so simple because of the opportunities it seems to offer, actually represents a major challenge. Because the relaxing atmosphere inside the car can only arise if all the noise that the combustion engine used to drown out is also eliminated.

The sounds of driving that are muffled by conventional engines at higher rpms are more obvious in cars with electric drives, and convey a different sense of speed. Insulation and other materials therefore play a more important role. A calm acoustic backdrop, according to Kögler, is what enables individual sounds to come into their own. “Calm is like an arena, and sound design is like a freestyle presentation,” she adds. Silence, however, can also be unpleasant. “We don’t want silence,” she says. “What we’re after is calm.”

Noise and sound affect trust

When drivers turn on their blinkers in quiet electric cars, they hear them more clearly. And that sound is therefore more important for the UX designers as well. The mechanics is the playing field for analogue sound design, because it, too, conveys how high-quality something is. “Sounds have to meet expectations and reflect what people associate with them,” says Wilhelm.

“A blinker, for example, is comparable to tapping someone you’d like to talk to,” says Kögler. You can destroy a lot of trust if it doesn’t sound right, and instill a lot if it sounds good. “We look at how the pitman arm is configured on the steering wheel and how it interacts with the blinker. As far as we’re concerned, material that makes a lot of noise is not acceptable.” The two designers place a priority on saturated sound. Ultimately what they want are associations of quality.

For their work to produce consistent results, the team seeks to convey the values of Volkswagen design, such as agreeableness, sensuality, or innovation. To achieve agreeableness, for example, sounds are based on the intonation of the human voice.

The designers have an overall aim in their work, namely to create a sense of friendship between electric cars and their users. “A friend is someone with whom you communicate well,” notes Kögler. That includes the ability to be quiet together, because you each know how the other is doing.

You might break the silence and start talking if you want to remind or warn them of something. That’s also what it’s like with an electric car. “It doesn’t talk to you all the time, and only offers assistance when needed,” she says. And after this sentence silence prevails, not calm.

The specified fuel consumption and emission data have been determined according to the measurement procedures prescribed by law. Since 1st September 2017, certain new vehicles are already being type-approved according to the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), a more realistic test procedure for measuring fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Starting on September 1st 2018, the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) will be replaced by the WLTP in stages. Owing to the more realistic test conditions, the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions measured according to the WLTP will, in many cases, be higher than those measured according to the NEDC. For further information on the differences between the WLTP and NEDC, please visit www.volkswagen.de/wltp.

We are currently still required by law to state the NEDC figures. In the case of new vehicles which have been type-approved according to the WLTP, the NEDC figures are derived from the WLTP data. It is possible to specify the WLTP figures voluntarily in addition until such time as this is required by law. In cases where the NEDC figures are specified as value ranges, these do not refer to a particular individual vehicle and do not constitute part of the sales offering. They are intended exclusively as a means of comparison between different vehicle types. Additional equipment and accessories (e.g. add-on parts, different tyre formats, etc.) may change the relevant vehicle parameters, such as weight, rolling resistance and aerodynamics, and, in conjunction with weather and traffic conditions and individual driving style, may affect fuel consumption, electrical power consumption, CO2 emissions and the performance figures for the vehicle.

Further information on official fuel consumption figures and the official specific CO2 emissions of new passenger cars can be found in the “Guide on the fuel economy, CO2 emissions and power consumption of new passenger car models”, which is available free of charge at all sales dealerships and from DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, D-73760 Ostfildern, Germany and at www.dat.de.